View Full Version : Why do people go to the ER for the flu??
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23998748/
“Our limited emergency medical resources quickly become overburdened with minor illnesses, and it is much harder for people with serious illnesses to get the treatment they need in a timely manner,” the Department of Emergency Services in Kern County, Calif., in the Bakersfield area, said recently in a public plea.
:disgust1:
oh i donno... maybe because they're sick..??
Westy
04-08-2008, 01:44 PM
The Flu can kill you. Most of the time when people say they have the flu they just have a bad cold.
The Flu can kill you. Most of the time when people say they have the flu they just have a bad cold.
I know it kills people every year, but being sick typically isn't an emergency. 4 years ago my wife went to the ER with horrible pains in her abdomen and she had to wait several hours to be admitted, turns out her appendix was close to bursting. We were stuck in the ER waiting room with a bunch of people who didn't look that sick and she was crying from the pain.
Westy
04-08-2008, 01:59 PM
Last time I went to the ER I calmly told them I cut my thumb. They told me it was going to be a few hours before they could see me. I went back to the desk a few minutes later and asked for a bucket because the large bath towel I had wrapped around my hand was saturated with blood and started dripping on the floor. They then realized I was actually hurt pretty bad and sent me back to a doctor.
SkaredShtles
04-08-2008, 02:25 PM
Last time I went to the ER I calmly told them I cut my thumb. They told me it was going to be a few hours before they could see me. I went back to the desk a few minutes later and asked for a bucket because the large bath towel I had wrapped around my hand was saturated with blood and started dripping on the floor. They then realized I was actually hurt pretty bad and sent me back to a doctor.
Clotting issues? :p
5 hrs in the ER back in Feb when MizN 8 smashed her finger in her car door..
got there about 11PM and was finally out of there at 4AM.
pretty sure no one goes to the ER just for the heck of it.
5 hrs in the ER back in Feb when MizN 8 smashed her finger in her car door..
got there about 11PM and was finally out of there at 4AM.
pretty sure no one goes to the ER just for the heck of it.
Maybe its just me, but it seems like people go to the ER for really minor issues. I crashed riding in the city and split my knee so deep that it exposed the joint, when I got the ER the doctor that saw me said: "Wow, you actually have an injury; most people that have come in just have a cold". I was shocked because the ER was full. Again, maybe its my hand full of incidents.....someone who works in an ER could give a better perspective
LordOpie
04-08-2008, 02:54 PM
We have an Urgent Care Clinic near us! :thumb:
I figure we'll be there regularly with my son.
Westy
04-08-2008, 03:01 PM
Clotting issues? :p
No, I tripped while cutting grooves in a 2X4 and fell into a table saw. My reflex was to stick my hand out to stop the fall and I put my thumb into the blade, had I not it might have been my face. I hit a good sized blood vessel and shaved off a bit of bone. I was very lucky 1/4" to the left and I would have lost my thumb.
No, I tripped while cutting grooves in a 2X4 and fell into a table saw. My reflex was to stick my hand out to stop the fall and I put my thumb into the blade, had I not it might have been my face. I hit a good sized blood vessel and shaved off a bit of bone. I was very lucky 1/4" to the left and I would have lost my thumb.
well you got two of them....
X3pilot
04-09-2008, 07:07 AM
Maybe because they see it as another entitlement? Why pay for health insurance when you can go to the ER and they have to treat you? I too had a nasty cut a few years back and spent 4 hours waiting for some stiches, while every a lot of sore throats and coughs and sore elbows got seen. The secret is to be of a certain socio-economic class and go in and tell them you don't have health insurance but you're having trouble breathing, you'll get seen right away.
BadDNA
04-09-2008, 07:11 AM
The secret is to be of a certain socio-economic class and go in and tell them you don't have health insurance but you're having trouble breathing, you'll get seen right away.
The secret is to use an ambulance...you may not get seem by a doctor any quicker (though in my experience you will) but you won't have to wait in the germ holding tank, you'll get a room and a bed pretty soon after you're wheeled through the door.
dante
04-09-2008, 11:18 AM
so, is the problem with the people going to the ER, or "Our limited emergency medical resources..." ?
LordOpie
04-09-2008, 11:25 AM
so, is the problem with the people going to the ER, or "Our limited emergency medical resources..." ?
exactly.
X3pilot
04-09-2008, 11:26 AM
People who are not actually experiencing a true medical emergency and are using the ER as a free medicine clinic are limiting the ER resources.
IMO, "true" medical emergency:
1.you are not breathing or your heart has stopped beating
2.blood, guts, bones or feathers sticking out of you
3.limb(s) has either fallen off or falling off is emminent.
4.in my case, most recent or next DH crash!
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